Ah, the great affordability debate of 2026, and in one corner, we have Rep. Dan Crenshaw, of Texas’s 2nd Congressional District, who, last week, decided to criticize Americans who say that rising prices on everything are making life less affordable. Crenshaw, on social media, opined that those who cite economic hardship in this day and age should “stop whining, get a job, eat Ramen like the rest of us did in college, on a budget with four roommates.”
Of course, in another corner is We the People who are out of touch with the elevated ruling class. Crenshaw chimed in on what has come to be known as the “$20 burrito debate,” which began after a Turning Point USA spokesperson shared a conversation with a college student who used the price of a burrito as an example of concerns about affordability, as the student opined that a burrito should not cost $20.
That burrito example spread with wildfire tenacity across social media, and became, in short order, a symbol for how unaffordable life has become for younger people.
While Crenshaw’s comments, tone-deaf as they might’ve been, were likely intended as a little tough-love humor, it deeply underscores the point of why so many working-class Americans really believe that politicians have become completely detached from economic reality.
I am a huge fan of a good burrito, and I’ve eaten my share of the el cheapo Taco Bell varieties, as well as more authentic fare from a variety of fine taquerias throughout the south (but never east of the Mississippi, or north of Dallas, to take Lyle Lovett’s words to heart), however, I don’t recall ever paying twenty bucks for a burrito. I thought about it, and came to the conclusion that it’s not really about whether a burrito should cost $20, but what that $20 represents.
Everything in life has become a daily game of calculations for millions of Americans: groceries, rent, utilities, insurance, gasoline and food have all consumed increasingly large portions of household budgets.
When Donald Trump was campaigning for his second term in office, he claimed that on day one of his new term, he and his administration would end inflation and “make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods,” which of course we are seeing the exact opposite taking place.
Food prices, alone, remain dramatically higher than they were a few years ago. One figure I read stated that grocery prices were about 20% higher in April of this year than in January of 2022.
Crenshaw telling young people to “get a job” misses a point in a spectacular fashion. They have jobs, and many of them have multiple jobs. The problem is that having a job, in of itself, no longer means having enough (or any) money left over after paying out life’s necessities.
His jibe about imploring young folks, also, to simply eat ramen, instead of a supposed $20 burrito, is also revealing, and assumes that the only problem is that they haven’t learned to live cheaply enough, which is something I’m in a good position to share knowledge and stories about, budgeting in the extreme, as having lived as both a college student and a touring musician. I’ve eaten my share of ramen and flavorless backstage catering, and I believe I know a little more about living extremely cheap than Dan Crenshaw.
There is a difference, however, between occasionally eating inexpensive food because you’re budgeting and being told that permanent austerity, or penury, is the appropriate lifestyle for the generation de jour.
The growing sense that the political class simply does not understand what We the People are paying at the supermarket checkout counter looms large. Anyone who routinely shops for their own groceries, or fills their own gas tank, or pays rent and occasionally can take their family or significant other out to dinner does not need a politician like Dan Crenshaw to explain that prices are high. They see the total all the time on their receipts.
The restaurant industry, too, is struggling with rising costs of goods and labor, thus making higher prices more complicated than simply blaming consumers for wanting to eat out. So, while I thought about the most expensive burrito I’ve eaten, long and hard, I could not recall eating one that cost $20, but I’m sure that at places like Chipotle and Freebirds nowadays, the premium burritos that might’ve cost $10-$12 a few years ago are now exceeding $20.
Crenshaw’s smugness in his “if you’re struggling, the problem is you” messaging is likely shared among most of the ruling class, and looking at We the Peasants in such a way is awfully convenient for these clowns who have spent many years inside the political establishment.
The $20 burrito is merely a symptom, but the real issue is an affordability crisis that is squeezing working people from every possible direction. Americans aren’t asking politicians to pass legislation guaranteeing a price cap on burritos. They’re asking why working hard seems to buy less and less each passing year.
Mocking them for noticing isn't leadership. It's being out of touch.
Chris Edwards is editor of the Tyler County Booster, a sister newspaper in the Polk County Publishing Group. He can be reached at cedwards@polkcountypublishing.com.
